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The Abacus and the Numeral Frame

Later Uses in the United States

By the mid-twentieth century, numeral frames were used less often in classrooms in the United States, but sold widely as an educational toy and less often as a device for the blind. Beads moved on rods or wires also remained part of classroom instruction. The Smithsonian collections include a “place value board,” a device in which plastic discs are moved along bent wires to teach elementary school students about units, tens, thousands and so forth.

"The Abacus and the Numeral Frame - Later Uses in the United States" showing 3 items.

In the 1950s, tools long used to communicate elementary ideas about counting and arithmetic moved from the classroom into the home. The numeral frame, which resembles a Russian abacus, was brought to the United States from Europe in the 1820s, and used in many classrooms to communicate basic arithmetic concepts to groups of students.

By the mid-20th century, numeral frames were sold for use by young children in the home. This brightly painted example has a wooden frame, five metal horizontal cross rods, and a metal support at the back. Each cross rod carries 10 sliding wooden beads. The toy was designed to teach elementary counting, addition, subtraction, and simple fractions. The object is marked: Royal (/) Tot (/) EDUCATIONAL (/) TOY. It also is marked: Box No. 1450. There is a cardboard box. This numeral frame was sold by a pharmacy in Sherman, N.Y., and cost $1.00.

This is a device for introducing elementary school students to the concept of place values. Six parallel wires, each in the shape of an inverted U, fit into holes in a wooden block that serves as a base. Each wire carries nine beads. The beads on the front of the wire represent digits. A tape that runs across the block contains labels for the wires - from one on the rightmost wire to hundreds of thousands on the leftmost. Robert Naidorf (born 1961), the son of the donors, made the object in about 1968. It was used by Marjorie Naidorf, Robert's mother, as a third grade teacher at Parklawn Elementary School from 1971 until 1991. Place value boards are also sold commercially.

This modification of the Japanese abacus or sorobon is designed for use by the blind. It sits in a black plastic box, with red felt in the bottom of the box to prevent the beads from sliding inadvertently. A black plastic cross bar is pierced by 13 parallel metal rods. Each rod has one spherical white plastic bead above the crossbar and four below. Raised dots can be felt on the cross bar and the lower rim of the box at each column, and as raised slashes between every 3 dots. At the top of the front are the raised letters: A.P.H.

This type of abacus was designed by Terence V. (Tim) Cranmer (1925-2001) of the Kentucky Division of Rehabilitation Services for the Blind in early 1962, and soon placed on the market by the American Printing House for the Blind. It is still manufactured today. Cranmer was blind from childhood. He made and sold plastic jewelry in his early years, worked briefly at Kentucky Industries for the Blind, and then spent 10 years as a piano technician. In 1952, he began working for the Kentucky Division of Rehabilitation Services for the Blind, rising through the ranks. He was an active member of the National Federation of the Blind, and made several inventions.

The donor, Russell Kletzing of Sacramento, California, was a lawyer blinded as a child. He was active in the National Federation of the Blind, and challenged the view that the U.S. Civil Service register should exclude blind lawyers because they could not read conventionally printed text.

References: Fred L. Gissoni, Using the Cranmer Abacus for the Blind, Louisville, Kentucky: American Printing House for the Blind, 1962.

National Federation of the Blind, "NFB Awards 2000," Braille Monitor, August / September 2000.